Hello everyone! My name is Jordan Butler and this is my first post. eSports is a big passion of mine and one of my favorite events of the year is the League of Legends World Championship. Today I will be breaking down how I think the groups will play out and also giving some thoughts on bets I like and players I like for the DraftKings slates, I will create a DFS strategy post in the future with some popular strategies. I will be using the betting odds from Bovada for reference. All stats I am using are from Games of Legends, they have an awesome site go check it out.

Worlds starts 10/1 so don't miss out on all the action!

Group A

Edward Gaming (-25000) - Dire Wolves (+1600) - Infinity eSports (+5000)

Edward Gaming (LPL) - EDG is the clear favorite of this group. They had some ups and downs this year but their talent is just way above the rest. EDG has made worlds every year as an organization, so they have a lot of experience here. If you are playing on DraftKings EDG will probably be hard to fit because they will be massive favorites in each matchup. Look to pick up Ray in the top lane and Meiko at support for some salary relief.

Dire Wolves (OPL) - The Dire Wolves are coming off a 10-0 split and their 4th straight OPL finals win. Dire Wolves have been here before, but I just don't realistically see them having a chance at competing for the top spot. If anyone besides EDG has a shot in the group it would be Dire Wolves, but I can't see it. My favorite fantasy plays from this team are the jungle and mid synergy of Shernfire and Triple.

Infinity eSports (LLN) - This will be Infinity eSports first time at worlds. This will be a good learning experience for the team, but thats about it. From what I have seen they have a pretty strong bot lane with Arce and Renyu, so I will likely target them in fantasy when I need salary relief to stack the favorites.

Winner Pick: Edward Gaming

Group B

G2 eSports (-1000) - SuperMassive (+600) - Ascension Gaming (+5000)

G2 eSports (EULCS) - G2 has just not looked the same since the departure of Zven and Mithy earlier this year. With that said the team is still strong enough to easily take down this group. With 76% Kill Particaption(KP) Jankos leads the team. I will look to pair Jankos and Perkz in fantasy as a new mid/jingle combo.

SuperMassive (TCL) - SuperMassive picked up a couple Koreans in GBM and SnowFlower this year to really boost their team. They have a pretty solid team and I could see them contending with G2, if G2 isn't on top of their game. Their bot lane is very strong and I could see that has a potential roadblock for G2. In fantasy I will probably be targeting GBM, Zeitnot, and SnowFlower.

Ascension Gaming (SEA) - I haven't seen too much tape of this team, but I just don't think their region's power level will have them ready to face world's competition. The only player I will probably be targeting for some salary relief is the Russian AD carry, Niksar.

Winner Pick: G2 eSports

Group C

Cloud9 (-1600) - KaBuM! E-Sports (+1000) - Detonation FocusMe (+2500)

Cloud9 (NALCS) - Cloud9 had an experimental split where they tried a bunch of different rosters. They started out in the bottom of the league, but once they found the roster combination that worked they skyrocketed to the top. Newcomers Blaber and Zeyzal look to help take one of North America's strong orgs to a strong finish at worlds this year. In fantasy, I will be targeting Licorice, Blaber, and Jensen because of their Kill Participation and lane synergy.

KaBuM! E-Sports (CBLOL) - KaBum is the first org to represent the region twice at worlds. They have a very team focused play style. I give the edge to C9 in the group, but I think KaBuM will put up a good fight. I will be looking at the carrys, dyNquedo and TitaN, in fantasy.

Detonation FocusMe (LJL) - Another small region team is making World's for the first time. Everyone on the squad is a new comer except for Evi. I probably won't be targeting anyone from this team, but you could go with Steal if you need the salary relief because he has the team's highest kill participation.

Winner Pick: Cloud9

Group D

G-Rex (-250) - Gambit eSports (+275) - Kaos Latin Gamers (+1000)

G-Rex (LMS) - Out of all of the favorites in the groups I think G-Rex has the hardest time winning. They didn't even make playoff's in the first split of the year, but they did come on strong in the second split. I think it will be a hard battle between Gambit for the top spot in the group. G-Rex has a strong bot lane in, Stitch and Koala, so that is where I would go for fantasy purposes.

Gambit eSports (LCL) - Gambit is back at worlds once again. They have a team of vets which 4 of the 5 have been to worlds 3+ times. I think they have the experience and skill to overtake G-Rex in the top spot. I will be playing the top, jungle, and mid of PvPStejos, Kira, and Diamondprox when I can.

Koas Latin Gamers (CLS) - Lead by a super aggressive jungler, Koas Latin Gamers dominated this region the whole year. While I don't see them having much of a shot, I would like to see some carry games from their jungler like Levi had a couple years ago in MSI. Realistically if they want to win Tierwulf will need to hard carry, so that is where I will go for fantasy salary relief.

Winner Pick: Gambit eSports

I will try and post another breakdown of the groups once we get finalized bracket from the play-in groups.

I'd love to get an feedback or hear your takes below. Do you think all the favorites will prevail or will there be some upsets? Let me know who you guys are cheering for!